Wednesday, March 12, 2008

In this short film, you get a behind-the-scenes peak at me working at my drawing board in my cartoon studio. Please note that this video was created more as an experiment for me to test the possibilities of recording shorts specifically for YouTube, so it's intentionally presented in black & white, but I still hope that you find it enjoyable!

In the first part, I sketch a cartoon character in real-time using a regular HB pencil. Usually, I draw using a 2H pencil, but I found that its lead was too difficult to see on camera because I sketch so lightly. That said, this video will still give you an idea as to what one of my "rough" pencil sketches looks like before I ink it with a dip-pen and brush.

The video ends with a 7-second teaser of me colouring one of my magazine gag cartoons in Adobe Photoshop CS3. This segment was sped up about 200% or more ... I work fast, but not THAT fast!

In up-coming videos, I intend to share more about my cartooning process, so any questions or feedback would be much appreciated.

Monday, March 10, 2008

I apologize for this late announcement, but I'm happy to say that one of my gag cartoons was published in the January 2008 issue of Current from Heldref Publications.

My complimentary copy arrived last week, and I'm quite honoured to have had my humorous doodle included in such a respectable magazine.

Here's a little blurb from the publisher's website:

"A journal of reprints, Current publishes provocative articles, essays, and reviews selected from the nation's most respected sources. In each issue, notable authors tackle a host of hot topics—from debates over education, culture, and science, to the challenges of global change and innovations that are transforming the way we live."

My cartoon is entitled "Fill Up" and can be found on Page 33. What's really cool is that it's printed nice and large on its very own page! You can click on the following image to see the cartoon in full-colour ...

This is actually a reprint for this particular cartoon for it was originally published in the Summer 2007 issue of Living Well. Nevertheless, I suppose that any cartoon which comments on gas and oil prices will always be a timely topic.

About Me

Name:Mike Cope

Location:Stoney Creek, Ontario, Canada

I'm a full-time freelance cartoonist and humorous illustrator, published in Reader's Digest Canada Magazine, The Canadian Reader, KNOW: The Science Magazine for Curious Kids, YESMag: The Science Magazine for Curious Minds, and more!